A Monster
by Phalanx30
Summary: At the end of Forgiving, Angel and Wesley have a different conversation, AU. Warning: Character Death
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing below except the plot. All characters, locations, and concepts are owned under their respective copyrights.

**Spoilers and Timeline**: Angel up to the episode "Forgiving"

A Monster

Chapter 1: Resignation and Negotiation

"You thought I was going to turn evil and kill my son. I didn't turn into Angelus. It's important to me that you know that. This isn't Angelus talking to you, it's me, Angel. You know that, right?"

Angel stared at the nearly dead man in the hospital bed who simply nodded in response. The nod was the only way he could respond as he had a large bandage over his throat that was covering a knife wound. He received the wound earlier that night from someone he had foolishly trusted.

Wesley thought he knew what was going to happen next until Angel pulled a small smokey-black sphere and uttered quietly "sepelio" and the sphere dissolved. Black runes typical of a concealment spell appeared on the walls and then disappeared entirely. The monitoring machines hooked up to Wesley began showing unchanging vital signs. Angel smirked at this and Wesley became concerned. He signaled for Angel to stop and motioned to a pen and pad of paper nearby. Angel handed it to him. Wesley knew the word Angel had said meant to bury or destroy. He suspected Angel meant both. He scribbled out a quick message.

"**You're going to kill me, aren't you?"**

Angel stared at the message and his expression softened "Well, Wes, I seriously thought about it." Wesley signed in relief at this but Angel continued "Oh, don't think for one second I'm sparing you. I mean I have forgiven you for taking Connor, you were trying to protect him, I can't forgive you for losing him." Wesley responded.

"**Well, what are you going to do then?"**

Angel smiled "I want you to live with the failure, ideally for a long, long time, centuries if possible." Wesley became horrified and his eyes darted around for some form of rescue, but he knew the spell was still in place.

"**No, please, no. You would let a creature of pure evil take my body?"**

Angel chuckled at this, "Only for a little while, I promise to put your soul back as quickly as possible, I still need your help to find Connor. And Wes it's not like you have much choice here." Wesley thought he saw an opening, a chance to stave off the coming horror.

"**Why not let me live then? I can go away and still help you get Connor back."**

The expression on Angel's face became clouded with anger as he nearly shouted, "Didn't you hear me Wesley, You failed my son! There has to be a price for that. Also, I am tired of being the only inhuman fighter of this group. I remember what it was like back when I was with the Whirlwind or in Sunnydale when I was fighting alongside or against Buffy. To have help in a fight that wasn't human. To know that at the end of it, I wouldn't need to worry about them being in a place like this, like you are right now." Wesley did one long blink.

"**I see, well the Loa was right, pain and agony were in my future, I guess I was seeking death. You won't let me hurt anyone will you?"**

Angel was surprised "You went to see a Loa, it was about Connor and the prophecy, right, why did it say you were seeking death? It wasn't just because of the prophecy that you took Connor, what else was it?" Wesley stared steadily back.

"**It said the pain in my heart was begging for it. Holtz threatened to attack you and everyone else, and I couldn't risk that and you possibly killing Connor."**

Angel glanced around, the spell was going to wear off soon, "I understand Wesley, thank you, I will do my best to make sure you don't hurt anyone, I will make a deal with you, if you help me get Connor back, if will do everything I can to help you deal with that pain." Wesley nodded

"**I guess that's it then, make it quick, if you can, and get me back to the Hyperion as quickly as possible, I should turn in a few hours. And make sure to get my soul, I won't be able to help without it."**

Angel nodded and his face changed to show the demon within. He almost gently moved the bandage on Wesley's neck aside. Then his demeanor changed and he attacked, biting deep into the side of Wesley's neck. Wesley had closed his eyes in preparation and they flew open and darted frantically around as his body struggled to survive even while his mind had accepted what was going to happen. His hands spasmed and shook for a moment and went limp as his eyes became fixed and wide open. Angel waited for the right moment before he fed Wesley his own blood to complete the process.

Angel replaced the bandage, cleaned himself up, and left to get Fred and Gunn to move Wesley's body back to the Hyperion. It was only after Wesley had been discharged against medical advice and taken by his friends that the room returned to normal and the monitoring machines resumed normal operation. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing below except the plot. All characters, locations, and concepts are owned under their respective copyrights.

**Spoilers and Timeline**: Angel up to the episode "Forgiving"

A Monster

Chapter 2: The Pryce

Charles Gunn was very uncomfortable

It wasn't just because he was sitting in one of the many upstairs rooms in the Hyperion, which hadn't been cleaned in decades, and had more of a carpet of dust than a layer of it. It also wasn't just the fact that his girlfriend was inconsolable and was sitting next to him quietly sniffling. It had more to do with the dead body on the bed across the room. The body was that of a man, Gunn considered that guy a friend. The discomfort was increased by the fact that chains were wrapped around both bed and body. The immobilization was necessary as this body would not be staying dead.

Gunn had been shocked when Angel had raced out of Wesley's room at the hospital and had told him and Fred that they needed to get Wesley out of there right away. He didn't quite know how but Angel had persuaded the hospital staff to release Wesley despite his condition. More important to Gunn, however, was the look that Wesley's body had sported when they went into the room. He was obviously dead. Ashen-faced, no breath or pulse, the whole deal, Gunn had seen it many times during his vamp-street-fighting days.

Gunn was still trying to process what Angel had told him. When they were in the car driving away from the hospital Angel told them what Lorne had said about forgiveness. How Angel had thought about it and come to the conclusion that Lorne was right. Wesley had acted with the knowledge he had. He had no way of knowing the prophecy about Connor was rewritten and therefore false. Angel had told them he walked into the room intending to forgive Wes. But his emotions at seeing the man who had taken his son got the better of him, and he had started to move towards the man, he wanted to do something to Wesley, he couldn't pinpoint exactly what he wanted to do. Just that Wesley had to pay. Wesley had been scared by the look he saw in Angel, a look he had seen before, when Angel had been determined to destroy something. The terror at the look and movements of the vampire had combined with the nights previous wound and near-death experience caused Wesley to convulse and his heart to stop. Angel had told them he had acted on instinct and desire to keep what was left of his family together. He had turned Wesley as fast as he could.

Now here Gunn was sitting waiting on the awakening of a demon that had taken up residence in his friend's body. He didn't quite know what to do. Before, when he had been in a nightly war with vampires over the possession of streets and alleyways he and his crew had wanted to keep safe, he would have put an end to what had been Wesley quickly. He knew Wes would see it as a mercy, not to have that pure expression of evil using his body. Gunn had done the same for people he knew countless times. His own sister had been one and he had staked her as well. However, Angel had made it clear that they needed Wesley to find and return Connor. He was downstairs right now with Lorne trying find a way to return Wesley's human soul to his body. Angel had warned all of them that no matter what they could not approach anywhere near the vampire until either the soul was returned or they found that it was impossible, at which point Angel had said he would finish it.

So again Gunn was back to being uncomfortable, Fred had stopped her mourning over the loss of a friend, she asked quietly, as if Wesley were sleeping "Charles, what's gonna happen when Wesley wakes up?"

Gunn considered his response for a moment, "Fred, when he wakes up you have to realize, it ain't Wes in there anymore. It'll have his memories but that's it." She stared at the unmoving body "So it'll be hungry, right?" Gunn nodded "Yep, that's the thing all vamps have, the problem here is that this one is on lock down, so he'll try to get free. He'll say anything to do it. With everything Wes knew about all of us, he'll try and play us to get out." Fred nodded in understanding, Gunn looked at her and with an earnest tone said "Fred I don't think It'll happen, but if he does get loose, I want you to promise me you'll run, get out of the hotel and far away, as fast as you can.

Fred was surprised "But, Charles, I can help, I know how to fight vampires, I'm not someone who needs protecting.

Gunn got a determined look on his face. "Fred I know that, seen it, your good too, but this'll be different than the vamps we fought before. Most of them were just regular people. Wes ain't regular."

Fred was a little confused "What do ya mean, he's good with demon books and all that, and he can defend himself well enough, what's so special about that."

"Fred, Wes told me about what he did before he came to L.A., he said he was a Watcher, he was taught what there was to know about vamps and other demon-y things, the point is this vamp will know it's own limitations and might do things differently. Wes was a good enough fighter, this thing will just add to that. In a straight up fight I don't know that I'll win. I know if I lose than his next target will be you, promise me Fred, please?" Gunn pleaded.

"You should listen to him, Winifred." At this they both jumped as Wesley, or what had been Wesley, had spoken and was looking at them with amusement.

–- –- –-

Downstairs Angel was just getting off the phone while Lorne looked on "...so, you'll be here in the morning then, thanks I'll have your payment ready." He set the phone down "Lorne, are you sure this guy can do it?" Lorne reassured him "Angel, look, I checked him out, with our price range plus the time factor he's our only option, but fair warning, this guy has a dark side to him, he likes to add some spice to his mojo, and by spice I mean a pinch of death and disorder. Do you really want to go through with this?

Angel stared at Lorne like he would stare at a child who didn't understand the situation he was in "Lorne, Connor is gone, and I just turned Wesley, I needed him to find Connor. The only way that can happen is if his soul gets back, otherwise, he is of no use to me. You've seen what I've done already what makes you think, for even a moment, that I care about what this guy might do to someone for the soul. As long it's not one of us, I don't give a crap"

Lorne was taken aback "Alright, dear leader, I just thought you'd want to know." Angel's expression softened "Thanks for the warning Lorne, I just can't lose him." Lorne didn't realize that Angel was talking about Connor, not Wesley.

–- –- –-

Back upstairs, Fred and Gunn were having an unnerving staring contest with a sneering not-Wesley. "Although maybe Gunn here is wrong after a fashion." Gunn bristled at this "Hey, Wes, what are you talking about? I know how vamps work so you would go after people that tied you to humanity." Wesley laughed "You miss the point, as usual. First, dear Winfred is definitely on the menu. The question is what she will taste like. If she runs in fear, she might get away, or she might just give me dinner, desert and a show. The chase would be exhilarating. If the memories of chasing her before are any indication. Second, don't call me by that name, he was a weakling and fool, I am neither. But go ahead and do it again, we'll see how strong these chains really are."

Fred piped up, still shaken that something with Wesley's face would say such things "What should we call you then?"

Wesley turned his gaze upon her "Ah, the delectable speaks, call me Pryce, at least there is still some dignity there. Wesley was an idiot who not only got duped by an enemy but then got killed in a hospital bed like a dog, by a friend no less." The demon remembered what Wesley had felt as he was being murdered, but for some reason there was a blank between when Angel had walked into the room and when the man started feel the life ebb out of him.

Gunn almost shouted as he stood up "What, Angel said he did it to save Wes, that he was dead either way." Pryce smirked "You actually believe that, well then good for Angel I guess, being the hero always was his thing, now to present matters, I am hungry, who do I call for room service?"

Fred smirked back "There'll be no blood for you, your not gonna be around long enough to need it, Wesley's coming back soon and you'll just be a phase, quick to appear and just as quickly forgotten."

Pryce didn't seem perturbed by this information "A soul then, that's your big play, Angel really must be really desperate, I have a question for you both, what makes you think the soul will make any difference? Winifred, you know what he he did before with the woman-hating infection running through him, you must have also figured out by now that he cared about you, as more than just a friend."

Fred choked out "What?"

Pryce had warmed to his subject and said in the most tender voice he could manage "Yes, he loved you and like any fool he thought he might've had a chance, but I think you made the right choice. It was good you never gave him a second look, though maybe if you had I wouldn't be here. So in a way I should thank you. It's funny, he actually thought you forgave him, but really you were just playing him to get him to come back to work."

Fred was about to defend herself when Gunn said through gritted teeth, barely holding back his anger, "Fred don't listen to him, you knew what you were doing, go get Angel, he needs to know." Fred got up and almost ran from the room, to escape the demon that was trying to twist and distort a valued friendship.

Gunn turned back to the recumbent vampire "Keep pushin' like that and all you'll be is some more dust in this room." The object of the threat responded, "Ah, yes, the man of action, he admired that you know. The fact that you were just a regular guy willing to go up against things like me. He thought you were his friend."

Gunn took a slow breath "I guess your gonna tell me I wasn't, huh." The demon smiled "No, I think you tried to be, you just get distracted from what's important. Your old gang would confirm that, by the way how is George, oh that's right I forgot, you were too busy 'helping the helpless.' Just like with your other recently dead friend, you should have been paying attention to what he was doing, he was the boss wasn't he? Instead, you were focused on your girl there, look what it led to, though like with the girl I gotta say thanks buddy."

Gunn seethed "It wasn't like that."

–- –- –-

Downstairs, Fred had just told Angel and Lorne about the awakening. Angel seemed to be waiting for this. He turned to Lorne "I'll take the first watch on him tonight, Lorne can you take the second. I want to have Gunn and myself ready when the re-souling guy shows up in the morning.

Fred cutoff what would have been Lorne's acceptance with "Angel, I think I should go with Lorne when his shift starts, that monster seems to focus on me, and I know what to expect. He would really go after Lorne if he is alone. Oh and he hates the name Wesley, says he wants to be called Pryce. Just a heads-up."

Angel looked at wondering just what the new vampire had said. He was also trying to figure out what he would say to his newest, and hopefully briefly without a soul, creation. "Sure, Fred.


End file.
